The Iconic Bay Area Bread That Locals Swear By For Sandwiches

If you're ever ordering a sandwich in San Francisco or Oakland and get offered "Dutch crunch," don't be surprised. It's a very common local bread that until recently was largely associated with Bay Area bakeries, sandwich sandwich shops, and restaurants. Similar to mission burritos, sourdough bread, Dungeness crab, and fishermen's cioppino stew, loaves of Dutch crunch bread are like hometown heroes.

The attention-grabbing characteristic of this iconic bread is the exterior crust, which is extraordinarily crackly, crunchy, and crispy all at the same time, marked by golden, raised, fissured patterns. The soft, white interior of the loaves bring slightly sweet and chewy texture to sandwiches, just-right for cradling all kinds of fillings, cheeses, and toppings. With each bite, the crust shatters, sending all that goodness parading across your mouth.

It seems like Dutch crunch is everywhere you turn when cruising the San Francisco Bay area, but it recently started inching its way into Southern California, where it's still considered relatively mysterious. However, this type of bread likely isn't unique to San Fran. It has a European counterpart called Dutch tiger bread, or Tijgerbrood, which is aptly named for the crust's resemblance to tiger stripes. It's very likely that the Bay Area's version originated in the Netherlands during the early 1900s. Regardless, it will always be Dutch crunch to legions of sandwich fans in California. Here's a look at how it gets that crackle, plus some renowned places to try it.

The intrigue of Dutch crunch bread undoubtedly centers on the marvelously dramatic crust. What creates the crackly pattern is a thin paste made primarily of rice flour, water, yeast, sugar, oil, and salt, which the baker gently brushes or spreads over the shaped dough before its final rise. The dough underneath expands into a lovely soft bread when baked. However, on the exterior, the rice-flour topping sets and dries more quickly, causing it to fracture into the signature pattern. 

If you want to eat Dutch crunch in its hometown environment, sandwich counters across the Bay Area are where to go. Shops like Ike's Love & Sandwiches and Mr. Pickle's Sandwich Shop routinely offer Dutch crunch as a standard bread option. For a more old-school experience, head to longtime neighborhood markets and delis, or stop by the Roxie Food Center for a classic hot pastrami in Dutch crunch.

Many of the best sandwich shops in San Francisco will have Dutch crunch as an expected option. And if you happen to be rooting around for a similar meal in the U.K., you might want to ask for giraffe bread. As the story goes, a young child astutely noted how tiger bread, sometimes called tiger bloomer, looked much more like a giraffe. So a major grocery chain, Sainsbury's, renamed it to reflect that.